2014 Sydney Underground Film Festival: Official Lineup

By Mike Everleth ⋅ August 7, 2014

The 8th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival is a power-packed event featuring outrageous cult films, provocative documentaries and wild short films that will run September 4-7 at its usual haunt, The Factory Theater.

Opening Night: The fest opens with Housebound, a New Zealand horror comedy by Gerard Johnstone about a woman in trouble with the law who comes to believe that her family home is haunted. The film will be preceded by a performance by Renny Kodgers and a free pizza party; and followed by an after party.

Closing Night: The fest will close with the controversial German teen sex comedy Wetlands directed by David Wendt. The film will then be followed by a late-night after party.

8:30 p.m.:Shadow Zombie, dir. Jorge Torres-Torres. A pot dealer living in a small American town paints himself up as a zombie doppelganger and falls in love with a girl who likes to dress up like a clown.

8:30 p.m.:Kidnapped for Christ, dir. Kate Logan. This documentary uncovers the horrifying reality behind a Christian boarding school in the Dominican Republic where gay teens are beaten and tortured in a revolting attempt to turn them “straight.”

10:30 p.m.:Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It, dir. Mike Clattenburg. Based on the cult Canadian TV series, a trio of misfits fight against the legalization of marijuana since the law would ruin their current businesses.

10:30 p.m.:My Name Is Jonah, dir. Phil Healy & JB Sapienza. This documentary profiles the iconoclastic Jonah Washnis, an upstate New York native devoted to promoting a warrior lifestyle.

10:30 p.m.:Beckoning the Butcher, dir. Dale Trott. A denier of the occult performs a sacred ritual just to prove that all rituals are nonsense, but vanishes soon after.

4:00 p.m.:American Arab, dir. Usama Alshaibi. Filmmaker Alshaibi explores what it means to be an Arab in the United States in the country’s post-9/11 society.

4:00 p.m.:Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It, dir. Mike Clattenburg. Based on the cult Canadian TV series, a trio of misfits fight against the legalization of marijuana since the law would ruin their current businesses.

6:00 p.m.:I Believe in Unicorns, dir. Leah Meyerhoff. A teenage girl who feels burdened with taking care of her disabled mother tries to find solace in a romance with an older boy who has aggressive tendencies.

6:00 p.m.:The Immoral, dir. Lars Daniel Krutzkoff Jacobsen. A Norwegian single mother and a soldier turn to prostitution after their government support gets cut off.

6:00 p.m.:Why Don’t You Play in Hell?, dir. Sion Sono. A punk film collective does battle with gang members in order to get their movie made.

6:00 p.m.:Shadow Zombie, dir. Jorge Torres-Torres. A pot dealer living in a small American town paints himself up as a zombie doppelganger and falls in love with a girl who likes to dress up like a clown.

8:30 p.m.:Housebound, dir. Gerard Johnstone. Committed to house arrest, a young woman starts to believe her mother that their family home is haunted by an angry spirit.

8:30 p.m.:Breadcrumb Trail, dir. Lance Bangs. This documentary exhamines the history and impact of the band Slint on modern indie rock.

8:30 p.m.:Beckoning the Butcher, dir. Dale Trott. A denier of the occult performs a sacred ritual just to prove that all rituals are nonsense, but vanishes soon after.

10:30 p.m.:The Green Inferno, dir. Eli Roth. A group of activists enter the Amazon and end up becoming dinner for the local tribes.

10:30 p.m.:The Dog, dir. Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren. This documentary tells the real story of John Wojtowicz, whose bank robbing adventure inspired the film Dog Day Afternoon.

10:30 p.m.:Proxy, dir. Zack Parker. After a pregnant woman is brutally attacked by a hooded stranger, she attempts to find comfort from another woman attacked under similar circumstances, but becomes involved in a horrific conspiracy.

3:00 p.m.:Suburban Gothic, dir. Richard Bates Jr. A recent college graduate spends his summer trying to solve a centuries-old murder with the help of a pretty bartender.

3:00 p.m.:I Believe in Unicorns, dir. Leah Meyerhoff. A teenage girl who feels burdened with taking care of her disabled mother tries to find solace in a romance with an older boy who has aggressive tendencies.

3:00 p.m.:The Green Inferno, dir. Eli Roth. A group of activists enter the Amazon and end up becoming dinner for the local tribes.

7:30 p.m.:Wetlands, dir. David Wendt. Based on the cult novel by Charlotte Roche — who never wanted her book to be adapted into a film — a teenage girl attempts to cope her with her own sexuality following her parents’ divorce.